Save Kenya's Coast from sliding into total anarchy now, leaders warn

Police arrest a suspect during riots in mombasa. [PHOTO: FILE STANDARD]

Mombasa Kenya: Assassination, murder and bombings. These narratives of death and destruction are slowly becoming part of the daily conversations at the Kenya’s Coast.

On Thursday afternoon, unknown gunmen confronted a female German tourist and her Kenyan lover at Old Town, Mombasa County, and shot her dead. This was near the spot where another tourist, a Russian woman, was also gunned down on July 6, in a series of puzzling attacks that have rocked the Coast.

Nothing was stolen from the two tourists, implying the murderers’ intentions were to snuff out their lives for reasons only known to them. The latest attack came hot on the heels of another by gunmen on Monday evening in Likoni’s Soweto slums, which claimed four lives.

Two weeks earlier, Mombasa businessman Shahid Butt was gunned down as he drove home with his son. Butt had been accused by the police of supporting terrorist activities.

These attacks took place as the country pondered over the series of macabre attacks that have claimed 94 lives in Lamu and Tana River counties over the past two months. These are just but the latest victims of a wave of unprecedented violence that has gripped the Coast – stretching from the southern tip in Kwale all the way to the northern tip in Lamu County.

Blame games

As a result, the tourism industry, sector players warn, is on its knees and will soon be dead as politicians and security organs engage in pointless blame games and turf wars. This state of affairs has been the source of major political fallout as to who is responsible, with the Government and security forces blaming the Opposition.

“Who will this kind of a relationship serve? Definitely not the people, but the enemy who wants to benefit – in this case al-Shabaab and other criminal gangs that thrive on violence,” says Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar.

Kenya has faced increased security threats since October 2011 when it sent soldiers into southern Somalia to fight the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab militia that has terrorised the Horn of Africa region. Al-Shabaab issued a statement last month warning foreign tourists to stay out of Kenya.”Kenya is now officially a war zone and as such, any tourists visiting the country do so at their own peril.”

For months now, foreign embassies have been warning of imminent attacks at the Coast, thus issuing travel advisories against visiting certain parts of the country. Even as the State embarked on an effort to market Kenya abroad amidst falling tourist numbers, the killing of a tourist in Mombasa – the second in a month – dampens the campaigns.

This week, the US Peace Corps announced the suspension of its programmes in Kenya, pulling out more than 50 volunteers due to security concerns, the State Department said. Several tourist hotels remain closed despite the start of the sector’s high season and the few that are open this week recorded a paltry 20 per cent bed occupancy.

 

Opposition’s hand

Yet any hopes of leaders closing ranks to save the Coast seems to be disappearing in the heat of differences between local elected leaders, State House and security networks. In Mombasa County, Governor Hassan Joho has accused County Commissioner Nelson Marwa of not doing enough to stem the rising insecurity.

In Kilifi County, Governor Amason Kingi has accused the local security network of excluding him and elected county leaders from security matters. In Lamu, the relationship between Governor Issa Timamy and former County Commissioner Stephen Ikua had long broken down before the attacks in Mpeketoni. The relationship between Timamy and the security network all but collapsed after the State charged him with murder, terrorism and forcible transfer of people over the attacks in his county.

“Why should there be antagonism between us and the security forces or State House? We are all in leadership positions to serve the people. Yet we seem to be working in direct opposition to each other,” said Mr Omar.

But over the past three months, the region has witnessed the development of a worrying trend that could only worsen this precarious situation. Ever since the attacks in Mpeketoni took place on June 15, the government has been blaming the Opposition – and not criminal gangs – for the attacks at the Coast region.

It started with President Uhuru Kenyatta absolving al-Shabaab from blame. Although he declared the Mpeketoni attacks were as a result of “local political networks”, he did not name the culprits.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku took it a bit further by insinuating that CORD leaders were behind the attacks. This line was sustained this week by Mombasa County Commissioner Nelson Marwa who blamed Monday’s gun attacks in Likoni on ODM. But despite suggesting that it has strong evidence of the Opposition’s hand in the chaos, the government is yet to arrest a single CORD leader for questioning.

“Why should CORD cause instability in this region yet it is our stronghold? What shall we achieve by killing our people and destroying the livelihoods of our people?” asked Omar.

Mr Mwenda Njoka, the director of communications at the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, said the issue was political to the extent that “certain politicians seem to be speaking the same language as al-Shabaab regarding KDF’s involvement in Somalia”.

CORD has been urging the Government to state KDF’s exit strategy from Somalia while Al Shabaab has said it is targeting Kenyans as a way of forcing the Government to remove its troops from the country.

“The fight between the elected county leaders and the security organs is the worst bit,” said Mr Khalid Hussein, the director of Mombasa based human rights group Haki Africa. “Who shall this state of affairs serve if not the elements that thrive in the conditions of chaos that they have tactfully created here?  The government must be more discerning.”

Hand in hand with greater security presence on the ground, the underlying reasons for mass disenchantment in the Coast should be addressed urgently, said George Musangali, the director at the Centre for Risk Management in Africa. For long, the Coast has been the setting of all manner of grievances against the National Government – land injustices, unemployment, poverty and poor education standards.

Historical problems

“The Coast, with its young angry youth, is a tinder box waiting to explode. The sooner the Government realises it and prescribes solutions the better,” said Mr Musangali.

When President Kenyatta took power, he made what were lauded as the first steps in courting the region by addressing some of their long-standing grievances. Last year, the President  issued title deeds to thousands of families at the Coast region. This was celebrated as one key step in addressing the historical land problems there.

This initiative was well-received across the political spectrum with local leaders vowing to support the Government’s initiative. But the Government never followed through with this programme, giving room to the Opposition to claim that the whole exercise was nothing more than a public relations gimmick.

“Give people opportunities and hope. Give their leaders a stake in the management of their natural resources. There is no community born inherently lazy as some people want to say about the people of Coast,” said Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) Coast leader Sheikh Juma Ngao.

The pattern of attacks points to a well-planned scheme to render the Coast region ungovernable through waves of terror attacks and intimidation. Yet the country cannot afford to lose the Coast to ungovernable violence – it is far too strategic and important for this nation and regional countries that depend on its resources.

The future of Kenya’s now fledgling tourism sector – the country’s second highest foreign exchange earner – is heavily dependent on what happens there. Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterer (KAHC) Coast Branch Executive Officer Sam Ikwaye says the sector “has grounded to a halt” in Mombasa.

The Kenyan coast is the gateway to eastern Africa.  The regional countries depend on the Port of Mombasa for their economic survival. The Port of Mombasa is an indispensable strategic national resource that contributes billions of shillings to the exchequer every year.

Ambitious projects

In the troubled Lamu County, the regional governments inaugurated one of the largest ever, ambitious transport projects in East Africa. The Sh2.1 trillion dollar Lamu Port and South Sudan, Ethiopia Transport Corridor project (Lapsset) will open up the region for more business opportunities when completed.

For several years now, the government has blamed the secessionist Mombasa Republican Council for incidents of violence and disorder in the larger Coast region.

But the group insists that violence has never been an option of achieving their ends. “We cannot destroy the lives of the people we speak for,” said MRC Secretary General Randu Nzai. “We do not have the capacity to organise village raids. If they have evidence that links us to these incidents, why haven’t they arrested any of us,” he asked.

According to other experts, the Coast attacks can no longer be argued out as tribal clashes or blamed on political rivalries, a theory advanced by security organs. “We are staring terrorism in the face. The central government and county governments should be aligned on this matter. Taking sides will not solve anything,” said Hussein.